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Banning Smoking in Public Places

Society has come to a place where many of us who might be inclined to light up a cigarette or a cigar in our own homes would be ordered instantly and without regard for protocol, in most instances, to put out the cigarette or the cigar or be asked to leave the house immediately.

Most families have banned, in whole or in part, smoking in their own homes or in their automobiles.

Obviously, the interest in further cleaning up public air for residents out for a walk in public parks or on beaches implies the same upgrading of standards that now exist inside our homes as well as inside pubs, cafes, restaurants and even at our sporting centers.

Those of us offended by cigarette or cigar smoke while we are trying to enjoy ourselves in public places by ourselves or with our families have been uplifted by the news that Boston City Councillors Sal LaMattina and Felix Arroyo have asked that smoking be banned in public places.

There are many among us who believe this would be the ultimate intrusion on our personal liberty.

Many more, including attorneys who claim to know, believe the LaMattina-Arroyo effort to be unconstitutional.

Constitutional or not, smoking has been medically proven to kill tens of thousands every year in this nation and causes hundreds of thousands to be made sick and to be hospitalized.

In our neighborhoods, smoking has been a killer for decades. Thousands of families have been touched by smoking related illnesses.

The effort to ban smoking in public does not make it impossible for people to smoke.

It just makes it impossible for them to smoke in public places or at the beach.

This allows the vast majority of us who do not smoke and who are often put into uncomfortable positions by those who do to be done with it.

There are those who believe that the state doesn’t have the right to have a say in what types of activity are banned in public.

That assertion is rubbish.

We can’t bath nude on a public beach nor can we drive our vehicles on dunes or play outrageously loud music or leave trash behind when we are done using the various facilities.

Making it impossible to smoke in public spaces is all about great intentions not with standing the legality of the matter.

As many have said about this issue: we don’t think it is allowable or even constitutional but we’re in favor of it.